Reading this recent article got me thinking about how important humour can be as a coping response. We do live in extraordinary political, cultural and social times. You'd be excused for thinking at times, that, the apocalypse is nigh. You may not be as catastrophic a thinker as this, but many of us at the least will be experiencing a degree of anxiety about President Trump and other world events. I think the Brits do black humour better than most. I love satire, and in recen

From time to time we all get wrapped up in the daily grind, and overly focused on problems, worries or insecurities. Me too – guilty as charged. But occasionally something happens that makes you stop and think. Perhaps an event outwith the norm that gives you a jolt, and helps you (or forces you) to step back from things a bit, lift your eyes, and look around. This is all about getting some kind of perspective on your life, on where you are and on what you are doing, or ar

Oliver James is a renowned British psychologist. Here, his recent article in the Guardian explores the role that ‘ecotherapy’ can take in leading to a healthier mind. “At the age of 11 I was an angry boy who earned unpopularity through assiduous selfishness and hostility. At that time I was at a boarding school in Kent, surrounded by rich, fecund forest. It proved my saviour in several different ways. The first was literal. The forest was my protection from occasional hordes